German Settlers to the Eastern Cape

Decline of the German peasantry

Keith Tankard

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It was during the Dark Ages following the collapse of the Roman Empire in Europe that the societal
structure known as feudalism arose -- and on the bottom rung of the feudal ladder were the peasants.

The peasants were nobody. They were of no class, with no-one to look up to them, no-one to give them
honour or fealty. They were simply the labourers who tilled their lord's fields, chopped his wood, baked
his food, milked his cows.

They did own small portions of soil but it was interspersed with their lord's land so that nobody was sure
whose was whose. Each day they went out and laboured, tilling and harvesting the lord's fields while at
the same time caring for their own theoretical plots.

They were not slaves, nor were they serfs. Indeed, they were not actually bound to the land at all but were
free to move if they so desired. There was, however, nowhere for them to go except to another manor
-- and one manor was much the same as the other. Life was just harsh.

A system which had taken centuries to evolve would also take centuries to disappear. The High Middle
Ages saw the re-emergence of the towns but did not witness any significant change in the country.
Peasantry and manorial dues remained much as they had always been.

With the return of trade and a monetary economy, however, the lords found themselves forced to pay
wages to their peasants. Initially, therefore, the peasants were better off as labour became a marketable
commodity and open to negotiation for a fair wage.

The course of the High Middle Ages, however, saw a population explosion which meant that there came
to be too many peasants and not enough work, and they therefore became more susceptible to
exploitation and so lost much of their earlier gains.

Moreover, unlike the earlier times, the peasants no longer lived communally on the manor but were forced
to fend for themselves to a much greater degree. They now often had to pay rent for their rooms which
further taxed their frugal income.

The peasants in northern Germany were always worse off than their counterparts in western Europe and
especially France. With the onset of the industrial revolution, however, things could only get worse
because peasants were still at the bottom of the working pile.

While cottage industries dominated the pre-industrial world, the rise of factories quickly eroded the ability
of traditional manufacturers to make ends meet. Peasants were forced off the land to join the rising
unskilled and shockingly paid workers in the growing industrial towns.

Those who remained on the land were doomed to a life of poverty, hoping only to earn enough during the
summer months to carry them through the frigid winters. It was during these winter months, therefore,
that thoughts turned to the attraction of overseas colonies.

The German nobility had no reason to prevent this emigration because, with growing mechanisation, there
was always less work for the peasants. On the other hand, an exodus from the land would in fact lead
to a diminishing likelihood of peasant revolutions.

A well-planned emigration scheme would therefore have been a major attraction for the German peasants
and would carry the blessing of many of the country landlords. This was especially so in Prussia where
life was harsher than in the rest of Germany.

America was always the prime destination but, by the mid-1850s, there was a growing crisis because of
the southern states threatening secession. Open warfare with the north was imminent. With the glamour
of the United States flagging, peasants began to think of elsewhere.

On paper, Sir George Grey's immigration scheme appeared generous. Most peasants owned no more
than an acre of land and so would have viewed the offer of 20 to 40 acres in British Kaffraria as being the
opportunity of a lifetime.

Since all advertisements claimed that the climate of southern Africa was quite the same as that of
Germany, what more could they want? Their land would be awaiting them when they arrived and, by the
time that repayment came round, they would be set fair for a prosperous future in a new world.

British Kaffraria therefore looked as good as anywhere else and, with the German military settlers already
there, the colony had the added attraction of posing as a German state.

See also:

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